Last Tuesday, as a part of PALATE 2009, Nena and I attended a wine and cheese seminar led by Shannon Brock from the New York Wine & Culinary Center. Shannon is someone that I've known in the virtual world for some time now, so it was a great pleasure to finally meet her in person. In it's-a-small-world style, Shannon is also the niece of good friend of my in-law's.
The seminar started with a little less on tasting wine -- you know, all the S's etc. It was actually very similar to a class Shannon teaches at the Center, the main difference being the wine and cheese selections. Typically she'll include wines and cheeses from throughout the state, but for PALATE, the three wines and the three cheeses were all Finger Lakes born.
The cheeses, seen here (from 10 o'clock and moving clockwise) were Red Buddy from Muranda Cheese House, Red Meck from Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese and Cayuga Blue from Lively Run Goat Dairy.
Of the three, my favorite was probably the Red Buddy, which is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese that tastes mostly like Swiss cheese with a little cheddar character as well. But, all three cheeses were delicious.
The three wines that we tasted, first by themselves and then with the cheese, were Sheldrake Point Vineyards' 2006 Reserve Riesling, Red Newt Cellars 2005 Cabernet Franc and Arbor Hill Grapery 2007 Vergennes. Far and away, my favorite of the three was the Sheldrake riesling, a wine that I included in the New York Cork Club a few months ago and have several bottles of in my cellar.
Before I move on to the pairings themselves, let me tell you a bit about this Vergennes, which is actually a varietal wine made from the Vergennes grape, a vinifera-labrusca cross named for the town in Vermont with the same name, where it was originally found. Shannon included it because it's something different, but it apparently was very popular amongst the wine judges from California in last years New York Food & Wine Classic. What did I think? I didn't think much of it, honestly. There was some melony-grapey fruit there, but also an overwhelming detergent (as in Tide) character. Unique, yes. Good, no.
As part of the seminar, Shannon had us taste each cheese with each wine. Here are my notes.
Red Buddy with...
...Red Newt Cabernet Franc: The cheese softens the tannins, but the wine really overpowers the flavors of the cheese. Okay though.
...Arbor Hill Vergennes: Wine completely overpowers the cheese. And not in any sort of good way.
Red Meck with...
...Red Newt Cabernet Franc: The cheese softens the wine a bit, and accentuates the fruitiness. The best pairing of the three.
...Arbor Hill Vergennes: Strangely, the wine seems to mute the flavors of the cheese and vice versa. They almost cancel one another out. Weird.
Cayuga Blue with...
...Red Newt Cabernet Franc: Again, the cheese dominates, but not as much. Probably the best of the three.
...Arbor Hill Vergennes: Makes the wine better, but that's probably because it overpowers the wine, muting the flavors.
The thing that makes these kinds of seminars/classes so interesting is just how different everyone's palate is. There were people who absolutely loved the Vergennes. There were people who thought the riesling (my default cheese wine by the way) was the best pairing for all three.
It just goes to show... you shouldn't trust anyone's palate but your own.
Hi Lenn, I checked back with my tasting notes and I agreed with you on all three counts of wine and cheese pairings. I was tied with my preference for the Red Buddy and Lively Run blue. I hope I can find the Red Buddy around here. It was nice meeting you and I hope your trip back to Long Island went well. Celia
Posted by: Celia | February 26, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Celia: It was great to meet you as well (and see you at a couple different events).
We actually picked up a piece of the Red Buddy at Lakewood Vineyards right after my tasting at Atwater. It didn't last long though...
Posted by: Lenn Thompson | February 27, 2009 at 07:29 AM
In addition to many great wines, the Finger Lakes is making a statement with farmstead cheeses. We were blessed to have Shannon lead this interesting tasting. Glad you were able to attend.
Posted by: Morgen McLaughlin | February 27, 2009 at 08:33 AM
Teaser alert--Look for an article in the spring 2009 issue of Edible Finger Lakes (early April release) about the recent surge of amazing dairy products coming out of Central New York, as well as a wonderful article, written by Shannon, about one the best wines the Finger Lakes offers. We are definitely experiencing a culinary golden age in the FL!
Posted by: Michael | February 27, 2009 at 09:20 AM
Shannon is such a great asset here in the Finger Lakes and we are so lucky to have her. She would be a superstar in Napa, Sonoma, you name it. And her husband Paul is a great winemaker...talk about a power couple.
Posted by: Peter Bell / Fox Run | February 27, 2009 at 04:46 PM